The Scenic Route
by Lord Winterman
Summary: They had often heard Kakashi use the excuse "getting lost on the road of life", but never had they imagined it could happen quite so literally. A Lost Tower AU, and an ITW story.
1. Chapter 1

**SPOILER WARNING! If you haven't seen the _Naruto: Shippuden_ movie _The Lost Tower_ and have plans of doing so _,_ this is an alternate ending of sorts. **

**If you don't care about spoilers, feel free to charge right into it.**

 **Enjoy!**

Naruto ran straight for the central pedestal and the pillar of light, which was actually fairly sound if a little late, running straight towards Mukade. Yamato was after him after cursing the whole situation, and the rest of the team followed on his heels.

Their target was still pulling in the formula and tugging at the kunai, releasing an outflow of energy that shot into the air like a beacon. Masonry began to crumble and lift into the air, throwing off Naruto's balance and hold on the ground.

The light began to draw Naruto in, and Yamato quickly worked on pulling him back out, but the field grew in strength and size, sucking the two of them in before Sakura could help. She was about to jump in after them when Sai intercepted her, pulling her away from the blast and back to safety.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out as the light began to envelop the room, threatening to destroy Sai's bird, with both of them hundreds of feet in the air and over a ley line juncture of dubious status.

Thankfully, the ink bird weathered the ordeal without incident and there was enough clearance between them and the beacon's reach. The flash of light abated, leaving Yamato laying on the central pedestal, which had strangely reformed. Mukade was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Naruto.

Sai flew his bird down to the captain, him and Sakura checking on their jonin.

"Captain Yamato," Sai said, shaking the jonin awake. To their relief, he quickly roused and rolled over, rubbing his head to soothe an oncoming headache.

"Where's Naruto?" Sakura asked.

The trio frantically searched for where the blond might have ended up, but came up with nothing. They were the only people in the chamber, with no sign of another soul. Sakura tried to repress the growing dread with each passing second.

"Naruto, if this is a prank, it's not funny anymore," she shouted.

But there was no answer. They were alone.

"Let's get back to the surface," Yamato said. "He might have ended up there."

Sakura was grasping at straws, and hastily agreed. Sai propped the captain on his shoulder and carried him out into the open air where the broken puppets were where they had fallen before.

Still, there was no sign of Naruto.

"Someone is approaching," Sai warned.

With Yamato still out of it from whatever he had gone through and Sai holding him up, Sakura positioned herself at the front of the formation, ready for a possible fight.

A small group of horsemen, eight in number, rode into the ruins, circling the shinobi several times before settling with their weapons pointed at the shinobi. All of them wore robes of light browns and tans conducive for riding, turbans on their head, some wearing goggles to keep their eyes clear of dust.

The leader, distinguished by his orange scarf where the others had muted browns and blues and the subtle deference that was rendered, carried a spear that was held with the certainty of proficiency. It was clear that he and the others were looking over them, assessing them as potential threats.

At long last, the leader raised a hand, the other members of the company standing down.

"Shinobi of Konohagakure," he declared, voice loud and clear. "They're friends of Suna and the Land of Wind."

The leader dismounted, still keeping a hold on his spear as he approached the shinobi. Two of riders remained on their horses, keeping watch, but everyone else joined their leader on the ground, taking positions at the perimeter.

"Not often that this place gets visitors," the leader said. "Rika said she was picking some activity around here, and if not for that disturbance, I might not have believe her. Good thing I didn't put anything on that bet before checking it out myself."

He undid his scarf and raised his goggles, shaking his head free of some excess dirt, and Team Seven froze. Sakura couldn't help but note how much he had changed and what had remained the same, but there was something about him that she just couldn't quite put her finger on.

The round face, the whisker marks on his cheeks, blue eyes and blond hair, though the latter was longer than she remembered. He was also taller and leaner, skin a bit darker from exposure to the sun, just as his hair was a shade or two lighter.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

The young man tilted his head, quirking an eyebrow, drawing attention to the strange ring pattern on his irises.

"Nah, I'm Yamato, Prince of Rōran." He gave his spear some showy twirls before letting it rest flush against his waist, swinging his free arm out dramatically. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"This is your home?" Captain Yamato asked, putting the common name out of his mind for the moment. "This place has been abandoned ruins for decades."

"That's right, this is my home. I'd cite you for trespassing, but I could hardly do that when this place is still ruins."

Team Seven stared at the strange young man, who began chuckling into the back of his fist.

"A poor joke," he said. "I'm sorry. Anyway, since you're an ally, you might as well stay. The rest will be showing up shortly."

He dismissed the guard, who began to take up watch with practiced efficiency. More people began arriving, making their way into the ruins. At the head of the column was a girl in orange robes with blue outlines, carrying herself with grace and dignity. The prince turned around and held his spear above his head.

"Hey, Rika," Prince Yamato hailed. "Where's mother and father?"

"Towards the rear of the caravan," she answered. "Has the crisis been averted?"

"Everything's calmed down already. Nothing else to report on that matter."

Rika nodded. "That's good to hear." She paused and glanced at the shinobi. "I see we already have guests."

Yamato cast a glance over his shoulder. "Yup. They're from Konoha."

"So I can see." Rika stepped forward, her brother moving out of her way automatically.

Her appearance was vastly different from her brother, almost to the point of casting doubt on any blood ties. She had faded red hair, held up by a yellow and green bandana, and purple eyes that carried the weight of authority.

"I apologize for the lack of hospitality," she said, "but we are just now returning from our exile. I am Rika, Crown Princess of Rōran. On behalf of the royal family, I welcome you to our city, such as it is."

"I'm Captain Yamato of Konohagakure, leading Team Seven." He gestured to the others. "This is Sakura Haruno and Sai."

Rika politely inclined her head. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

As the princess talked, Sakura's eyes subconsciously drifted to the weapon on the princess' hip.

She carried a chakra blade that had seen better days. Apart from the age, it was a perfect replica of the ones that had been issued to Team Seven for the mission, and had seen judicious use. To her embarrassment, the princess noticed the brief glance.

"Oh, you're looking at this?" she asked, holding it out for Team Seven to see.

"It looks exactly like one of ours," said Sakura. "Where did you get one of those?"

"It's a keepsake of my mother's, a gift to her from my father. Lately it's been a badge of the heir of Rōran, but I've learned how to use it like a normal weapon." She laughed gently, then looked at Sakura again. "I'm sure you can ask them about it when they arrive with the rest of our people."

"You mean there's more coming?"

"Indeed. Every citizen of Rōran and their families are returning to reclaim our home."

While a million questions tumbled in the back of Sakura's mind, one of the other members of the traveling party came up and whispered into Yamato's ear. The prince looked out into the desert, then nodded to his sister.

"It would seem that the queen and king have arrived."

The princess and prince turned to the ruined gates, standing up straight while double rows of soldiers formed along the path into the city.

A sudden presence of chakra put the Konoha shinobi on alert, drawing their eyes upward as a man carrying a woman bridal style landed in the clearing just outside the ruins. He set her down on her feet and they walked into the city holding hands.

"I present to you the Queen and King of Rōran," Rika announced.

All present began to bow to the duo's approach. Risking a breach in propriety, Sakura stared, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Captain Yamato and Sai doing the same.

The queen was beautiful, even if her garments were humbler than would have been expected, and carried herself like Sakura had always imagined a queen would. Red hair was done in a braided crown and a top-knot, with spiky bangs hanging above violet eyes.

But as much as their eyes lingered on the queen, the king's appearance was all the more riveting, and it was clear where Prince Yamato got most of his looks from. Unlike his son, his sun-bleached blond hair was long enough to put in a fairly long ponytail and he had a beard that traced his jawline into a goatee. His blue eyes twinkled with mirth and recognition, and he smiled brightly in a way that he couldn't be mistaken for anyone else.

"Hey, guys," said Naruto. "It's been a long time."

 **A/N: In case anyone is worried about this usurping my attention from other stories, note that I am deliberately making sure this remains a short-term project, after which it will be relegated into dormancy.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Since I didn't say this before, I will say it now: I don't own Naruto or its official derivatives in any form or fashion. Things would have turned out a fair bit differently if I had been in control.**

 **But that's a matter for another project to address at a later date. On with the show.**

Amidst the rising crowd, Captain Yamato got over the initial shock and gathered his thoughts and mental processes back together.

"So…your majesty," he began. "Can you explain how you ended up like this?

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, apparently when we were supposed to be sent back, something went all screwy. I ended up staying in the past, while you got to go back to where we started."

"How far in the past?"

"About twenty years."

Sakura ran the numbers through her head and balked at the result.

"You're thirty-six?!"

"Yes."

Still reeling from the revelation, the medic-nin fixed Naruto with a glare. "Okay, we need to talk."

"First, let's get everyone setting up camp," the queen said. She clambered to a high point and addressed the gathering crowd, eyes draw to her presence.

"People of Rōran," she shouted, voice carrying over the broken city. "Our time of exile is over. Welcome home!"

A round of cheers rang out, headgear and scarves tossed into the air, fists and weapons raised skyward in the midday light.

"Make camp and celebrate tonight. We begin rebuilding tomorrow."

Another round of cheers and the people began moving forward, finding places to set up tents, spreading among the ruins and out into the sands surrounding them.

"It's always fun hearing her shout like that," Naruto said.

Hopping back down and rejoining the reunion, the queen dragged Naruto in for a passionate kiss, shocking Sakura and Captain Yamato.

"We're home," she said.

Naruto was utterly unabashed by the open display of affection, warmly smiling at the queen.

Before anything else could be said, another set of riders came up. One of them, a girl about Konohamaru's age, had rusty red hair, blue eyes, and faint whisker marks on her cheeks. On her back was a quiver of arrows and a bow. She dismounted and ran up to stand beside the king and queen after the necessary bow. The queen gave her a hug and positioned her in front of her.

"I might as well start introductions," Naruto said. "This is my wife, Queen Sāra."

"It's been awhile since we last met, Captain Yamato," the queen said. "I must say you've aged well."

Captain Yamato stood gobsmacked for a moment before regaining his composure. Sāra lightly laughed, and took some pity on his confusion.

"You were one of the ones who we're sent back in time."

"I was wondering if I had seen you somewhere before," he answered.

"We can talk about it more over dinner," Naruto said.

The queen smiled, and continued the introductions. "You've met Rika and Yamato, and this is Madoka," she said, stroking the girl's hair. "I imagine the twins are running around somewhere."

A pair of children ran up to the king and queen, a girl with blond hair with red highlights and blue eyes alongside a boy of the same age, red hair with blond highlights and purple eyes. Both had the same whisker marks as their father and brother.

"Ah, here they are. This is Takeshi," Naruto said, settling the boy down by placing his hands on his shoulders, "and Midori."

The blonde girl shyly smiled and waved at the strangers.

While the weirdness meters had already capped out for Captain Yamato and Sakura, Sai merely looked over the royal family, then settled on Naruto.

"So you do have one after all," Sai said.

While Naruto snorted, Sakura snapped out of her stupor and slugged Sai across the face.

[TSR]

Sounds of merriment and festivities echoed around the ruins of Rōran. The royal family's yurt was currently playing host to an unusual reunion.

Sai was taking things in stride, or at least on the face of it, discretely trying to dispel whatever genjutsu he found himself in. Yamato had his face kind of pinched as if remembering something that kept eluding his recollection. Naruto had offered to undo the seal on his memories, but it seemed the captain was trying to do it himself.

Sitting quietly, Sakura kept staring at Naruto, occasionally shooting glances at the rest of his (she was still having trouble wrapping her head around this) family.

Rika sat serenely, engaging in conversation with Midori in hopes of easing her around their father's friends, slowly making headway with the youngest princess. Compared to the perfectly composed princess Sakura had first encountered, in a more intimate setting, Rika acted more like the type of older sister she would have wanted.

Prince Yamato cut a different figure without the robes and the spear resting behind him, but even his relaxed posture still carried a cocky assurance that had a firm basis in reality, contrasting the false bravado his father had so often displayed in his youth.

Takeshi, in complete contrast to his twin, would make faces at the guests when he thought no one else was looking, a mischievous streak that had to have been inherited from his father, ignoring Madoka's attempts to stop him.

Then there were the monarchs. Naruto and Sāra sat next to each other exchanging small-talk with Captain Yamato. Sakura watched on in melancholic amazement as her old friend carried on the conversation.

Before, her teammate often exuded confidence, and loudly at that, but now his exuberance was subdued and his confidence restrained by experience. His face had weathered well, and she was positive that he had emulated Jiraiya's hairstyle and Asuma's beard, though there was something else that was vaguely familiar about the way his hair flopped around front, like she had seen it somewhere before.

And then there was how relaxed he was the queen. Before his adventures, he was either utterly clueless or completely freaked out whenever a girl showed interest in him. There wasn't any overly pronounced romantic overtures either, just the gentle touches and comfort in the other's presence.

 _Then again, it's been twenty years for him._

Eventually, Sakura's curiosity overpowered her patience.

"Okay. Explain how this happened," she demanded.

Naruto looked at his wife.

"You tell the story better," Sāra said.

"Alright, then," Naruto answered. "But feel free to add anything I missed." Resting his hands on his knees, he addressed the remainder of Team Seven. "How much do you know about time travel?"

"It's impossible," Sai replied, earning a laugh from Naruto.

"Well, how do you suppose I got here, and like this?"

Sai once again tried to disrupt a non-existent genjutsu, going as far as to grab some cutlery. Naruto caught him before he stabbed himself.

"None of that," Naruto chided. "You'll ruin the utensils. But yeah, long story short, me and Captain Yamato got sent back in time when we tried to catch Mukade. When time tried to swing us back, he got sent back to the starting point and I got left behind."

"How did that happen?" Takeshi asked, reminding everyone of the kids in the room.

"Right now, I think part of it was Kurama being so close to the Ryūmyaku and some other variables I haven't quite nailed down."

"Kurama?" Captain Yamato asked.

"Ryūmyaku?" Sakura inquired soon after.

Naruto sighed lightly. "Right, not common information." He took a quick breath and continued. "Kurama is the proper name of the Kyubi. The Ryūmyaku is what we called ley lines. Frankly, I think the actual name is cooler."

"You mean you've conversed with it? The Kyubi, that is."

"We came to an agreement a long time ago. We're like roommates, now."

Setting aside the strange thoughts of what many believed to be the incarnation of destruction and hatred being reasoned with, the captain got down to business.

"There's still one problem," Yamato said. "You're still legally a shinobi of Konoha at this time, and depending on how you look at it, you're either going AWOL or have been AWOL for the last twenty years."

"Oh boy," Naruto deadpanned, stroking his goatee. He smiled reassuringly. "Glad I saw this happening. Don't worry, I've got some plans to work things out, but I still need to visit Konoha to make it happen."

Sāra rested her hand on knee. "I can begin the reconstruction while you handle that. It would be better to minimize the number of enemies we might face. Rika can fill in for you while you're away."

Both looked at their oldest daughter.

"Do you think you're up to that, Rika?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, father."

"Alright, then. I'll try to make this trip as short as manageable."

The queen laughed. "That doesn't exactly mean much. Remember our honeymoon?"

"I said I was sorry about that," Naruto retorted.

"I know. That's why I'm not bringing up the other incidents."

Naruto visibly shuddered. "Thanks, Sāra…and I am guessing by the expectant looks from some of the kids, they want to come along. Love?"

"Yamato and Madoka can go," she replied, giving her children a stern look. "So long as they behave themselves."

The aforementioned prince and princess brightened at the prospect of traveling to their father's home, but the twins seemed disappointed, which Sāra noted instantly.

"Takeshi, Midori, you can go on another trip. I doubt there will be much fun on this run."

"Trust me, kids," Naruto said. "This will mostly be a string of meetings and getting our business in order. We can arrange for a normal visit when things quiet down and everyone is settled in. Is that good with you?"

Midori nodded vigorously, but her twin was more reticent, finally agreeing under his father's patient stare.

"It's settled then. We can leave in the morning, at first light."

[TSR]

Sakura sat on a pile of broken masonry, staring out into the desert sands lit by starlight and the moon. Late as the hour was, she could still hear activity within the camp, celebrations carrying well into the night.

 _Once again, I've been left behind._

"You look upset," a voice said.

She looked up and saw Naruto approaching, hands crossed behind his back. Making sure she was presentable, she was about to stand up when he plopped down next to her.

"I'm not…" she began to protest.

"I've been raising five children, two of whom are teenagers," Naruto said. "You pick up a few things along the way."

Not really sure how to answer that, Sakura resumed her stargazing. "It's all so surreal."

"Amazing what twenty years will do, isn't it?" Naruto said with a chuckle.

There were a millions things she wanted to say and ask, but none of them managed to reach her mouth. Her mind was still trying to reconcile the loud, ramen-obsessed knucklehead with the paternal presence that reminded her of her father.

Naruto breathed deeply. "If you have anything you need to get out of your system, I'll hear you out."

Sakura considered it for a moment. "Maybe later. I have to get used to the…changes."

"Fair enough. In the meantime, you better get some sleep. We've got a journey ahead of us tomorrow."

 **A/N: I know Naruto's storytelling got waylaid, but that will be rectified in the next chapter.**

 **In other news, a quick overview of Naruto and Sāra's children.**

 **Crown Princess Rika is 17 years old, born January 4** **th** **. For a quick reference, her appearance is largely based off the girl that shows up at the end of** _ **The Lost Tower**_ **, though a bit older.**

 **Prince Yamato is 16, a tad younger than Naruto's original age prior to the incident and, coincidently, an October birthday like his father (the 31** **st** **, to be precise).**

 **Princess Madoka, as stated in earlier in the chapter, is close to Konohamaru's age, which at this point is 12 (-ish). Born May 9** **th** **.**

 **The twins, Takeshi and Midori, are 8 years old, born April 13** **th** **.**

 **No, none of the birthdays hold any significance (to me that is) except for Yamato's, and that's more for putting him closer to Naruto's canon age.**


	3. Chapter 3

Morning dawned, and the city of Rōran stirred to life, hundreds of people getting ready for the day.

Team Seven broke camp and made their way to the gate, where Prince Yamato was already up and about, running through various drills with his spear, Madoka watching on, neither of them having slept much due to being too excited.

In the waxing light, Sakura mused that the prince could have been mistaken for a younger Yondiame, especially with the way he styled his hair, ponytail aside.

Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when Naruto called the family together for farewells, a scene that could be described as picturesque, even among the ruins. Midori was tearing up and her twin was putting on a brave face. Their knelt down and hugged them both.

"We'll be back soon," he assured them. "Be good for your mother." He moved over Rika, hugging her in turn. "Don't push yourself too hard, Rika."

"Yes, father."

"I'll have things up and running by the time you get back," Sāra said.

The king gave his queen a kiss and then joined the traveling party, Madoka in tow while Rika and Yamtao shared some final words, rejoining the party afterwards.

"Are you ready?" Captain Yamato asked.

Naruto flashed a smile. "Time waits for no one."

[TSR]

Team 8 was going about their day when Team Seven returned to Konoha. Hinata seemed most interested, as was usual whenever it came to a certain ramen-obsessed boy, but became practically riveted on the spot, especially when she saw the redhead and the older blond tagging along.

Kiba narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of what his instincts were telling him was off with what he was seeing.

"Did Naruto find his family or something?" he asked.

Hinata was still staring. "That can't be…"

The older blond noticed their presence and waved them down. The younger ones followed on his heels, with the rest of Team Seven approaching sedately. He stopped right in front of them, smiling as he greeted them.

"Hey, guys. What are you up to?"

His voice had dropped significantly, but a certain rasp remained to the high baritone.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, hesitant.

"The one and only," Naruto said. He acted as if he were about to say more when Captain Yamato rested a hand on his shoulder. "Right. Sorry, but I'm a bit late to a debriefing. You're welcome to come along. Someone should keep an eye on these two."

[TSR]

Captain Yamato ushered the team in, the prince and princess hanging outside the door with Team Eight, happily chatting away with the shinobi. Naruto gave only a passing glance over his shoulder before preparing himself.

The Hokage looked up from the mountains of paperwork, her jaw going slack when she saw who it was standing in front of her.

"Naruto?" she murmured.

"Hey, Granny," Naruto cheerfully replied.

Rather than protest at his disrespect, Tsunade looked the full-grown man up and down, trying to reconcile him with the teenager she had sent off on a mission only a week ago.

"What happened?" she finally managed to ask.

Naruto cleared his throat. "To make a long story short, the mission was a success, but our exit strategy got sort of derailed. Mine, anyways."

The Hokage leaned back into her chair. "This is going to be a really long story, isn't it?"

Naruto chuckled good-naturedly, sufficiently answering the question. Tsunade sighed, opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a bottle of sake, setting it on the table.

"Everything always gets complicated when you're involved," she sighed. "What happened this time?"

Taking the center stage, Naruto began. "Okay, everyone get comfortable, because this might take a while. Okay, you already know the mission briefing, so I won't rehash that, but the point is that we found Mukade, and cornered him in the lower reaches of Rōran after cutting through some puppets of his. He absorbed a seal array that Minato Namikaze set up close to twenty years ago"

"The Yondiame?"

"He wasn't at the time. Anyway, Mukade sent himself back six years before that, and Captain Yamato and I got sucked into the blast. We worked with a team that the Sandiame had sent to deal with Anrokuzan, who was actually Mukade hiding as an advisor to the Queen of Rōran and manipulating her to his own ends, which was some vague plot to conquer the universe."

"What?"

"I know. I'm kind of wondering where that idea came from, but I've learned that missing-nin seem to lose their sanity after spending a few years on the run, if they weren't that way to begin with."

Tsunade just rested her forehead on her knuckles. "Continue."

"So, after thwarting an assassination attempt on Sāra, I worked with the Konoha team to keep her alive and put a stop to Mukade's shenanigans. Turns out he pulled a Sasori and turned himself into some sort of puppet powered by the Ryūmyaku and had an army of more puppets made by some slave labor he managed to put together using the people of the city without Sāra's knowledge or consent."

"The queen is Sāra, correct?"

"Yeah. Anyway, we manage to put some hurt onto Mukade's puppet form, slowing it down while Sāra cut his power at the source. Unfortunately, Mukade got some insane regenerative abilities during the upgrade, allowing him to power through the holding action and give chase. Speeding things up, the Yondiame and I managed to combine rasengans as Sāra stemmed the well the puppets were using. Mukade throws a hissy-fit and commits suicide by throwing himself into the Ryūmyaku, undoing Sāra's work, nearly blowing the whole place sky high before the Yondiame sealed the whole thing down, basically completing the loop. About that time, eh, time started trying to correct itself. The Yondiamde tries to seal our memories of the whole ordeal, but when the time flash – and I invented the term, because I had no idea what else to call – tried sending us back, it only took Captain Yamato."

"And where was Captain Yamato during all this?"

"I think he spent most of the trip unconscious before a younger Kakashi found him. He did make an amazing save near the end, though, so I don't hold it against him."

"I see. If all this is accurate, why didn't you come back with Yamato?"

"I'm thinking it was something to do with so many energies mingling in close proximities and Kurama being a timeless entity, ultimately cancelling out whatever was happening for me."

"Kurama?"

"The Kyubi. I managed to talk him down from his unrelenting hatred and work out an agreement. He's still a jerk, but we're pretty cool, now. He refreshed my memories after the ordeal, but I don't think that was intentional."

Tsunade's eyes were wide. "If anyone else said that I'd have their head checked."

"But wait, there's more."

"Oh, god…"

"Now buckle your seats, because this next part's going to sound real crazy. Because I had quite accidentally stumbled into the possibility of a time-breaking paradox, I got stopped by the time police and basically get slapped with a penalty and have to spend the next twenty years avoiding anything that could possibly throw the timeline off. Apparently that's been a problem in the past, especially with my ancestors, but since I had absolutely no clue as to what had happened, had tried to prevent the problem in the first place, and had ultimately defeated the true culprit, they didn't try to press the issue too hard."

"What was the penalty?"

"What I said already, and I had to take the scenic route back home. I guess I was supposed to serve time, literally, but I can't exactly complain about the results."

"I'm certain that whatever you're going to say next is going to make me really happy or infuriate me to no end."

"Well, I ended up marrying Queen Sāra, and we have five children. Two of them are out there if you have any doubts. After Rōran fell, we fled into the desert and have been wandering until the time period expired, which only happened recently, and incidentally gave us some time to let the heat die down and Rōran to slip out sight for a time.

"So he's a king, now," Sakura said.

"Technically, I'm the consort to the queen," Naruto corrected. "She's the one who runs the show. Most of my duties are in support of her, from ruling to domestic life."

Tsunade tented her fingers. "Can I see them?" she asked.

Naruto smiled and turned to the door. "Yamato, Madoka, come here."

The two young people walked inside and politely bowed. She got up and moved around the desk, looking both of them over, noting the differences and similarities between them and their father.

"Your name is Yamato?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered.

"Sāra's idea," Naruto interjected. "Neither of us knew our fathers, and I didn't want to name him after anyone who could easily link back to me, so she asked about Yamato."

"So, where's the rest of the family?"

"Back in Rōran. Sāra is organizing the reconstruction effort, and Rika is helping her out. And since this trip required a certain measure of speed, the twins stayed home, too."

"I'd love to meet them sometime."

The Elders burst into the office, ruining the moment for Tsunade.

"Is it true?"

Naruto turned around, halfway amused. "Kids, I think it's time for grownup talk."

[TSR]

"I can still hear them yelling," Madoka said as they left Hokage Tower. "So, what can we do while we're waiting?"

Yamato snorted. "Yeah, I doubt you'd appreciate a couple of newcomers wandering around and-" The prince stopped, sniffing the air.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

He turned around and spotted a suspiciously moving box. Before anyone could stop him, he was flipping his spear around and launched it to hit just above his target, thoroughly scaring the crap out of Konohamaru.

After the obligatory screaming, he panted and gave them an angry look.

"What gives, boss?" Konohamaru asked.

Yamato cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

"This isn't Naruto," Sakura explained.

"Oh, are you like his cousins or something?"

Yamato and Madoka glanced at each other. "Something like that," they said in unison.

Konohamaru gave them both thumbs up. "Cool! You want to spar?"

Yamato stabbed his spear into the ground, an enthusiastic smile tugging at the sides of his mouth. "Yeah!"

"Yamato, you can't fight a kid."

"He asked."

Naruto suddenly appeared behind the group.

"Boring part is over," the king said hurriedly.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "That was quick."

"Was there a fight we missed?" Yamato asked.

"Yes," Naruto answered, "but I'm saying nothing else. Hey, Konohamaru."

The other shoe dropped in the boy's mind. "Boss?! Why are you old!?"

"Magic," he answered, and quickly moved to the next subject. "Anyhow, I wanted to hit up my old apartment and grab some things."

Walking down the main drag, they came upon Kakashi, the silver-haired jonin engrossed in his usual reading material. Evidently aware of his surroundings, he paused and looked up, followed by a double take as he quickly processed what he was seeing, but still came up short, his brain conjuring only impossible dreams.

"Minato-sensei?" he

Sakura herself froze as she did a quick mental comparison between the face on the Hokage Monument and the man standing next to her.

And then everything clicked.

"You're the Yondiame's son?!" she gasped.

Naruto's head whipped towards her, a hand covering Konohamaru's mouth at the same time. "Go ahead and shout it for all the world to hear. I'm not sure everyone heard you."

"Sorry."

Letting go of his former pupil, he shrugged. "I'm really not all that worried. Still, I get why no one ever said anything to me before I left. So I'll leave it at that. Come on."

Giving an incredulous Kakashi an abridged version of what had happened, then presently came to the apartment complex, swinging the door to Naruto's former residence.

"Wow, dad, you were a real slob."

Naruto ignored his son's words as he surveyed his apartment, blankly taking in the scene.

"Time travel really messes with your head," he said. "I haven't been here in years, so I was expecting a trash heap or someone else living here." He looked around a bit, noting the smells. "Not much here I really need from here anymore."

He grabbed some keepsakes, but mostly ignored it all. The clothes wouldn't fit anymore, and he had his own weapons, scrolls, and books. The picture of Team Seven was one of the first things set aside to take with him. Some things he passed off to one of his kids to distribute once they got home.

Once they cleared everything out they needed, Naruto said to donate the rest to the academy, then vacated the place. Taking a deep breath, Naruto turned around to the band of teens following him.

"How about some lunch?"

[TSR]

It was still a bit before noon, so Teuchi's was still empty, but Teuchi and Ayame were hard at work preparing for the lunch rush. Still in the midst of preparation, Ayame nearly dropped a pot of water when she saw the crowd approaching.

"Naruto?"

"Hey! Long time, no see." Seeing some of his oldest friends shocked still, he quickly added "it's a long story."

Everyone finding seats, orders were placed and conversation began rolling out, Naruto giving the restaurateurs an account of what had transpired, bringing Kakashi up to speed. Living in a shinobi village made digesting the information a bit easier.

"So, yeah," Naruto concluded. "I won't be living in Konoha for the foreseeable future."

"That's a shame," Teuchi said. "You were one of our best customers."

"Don't worry, I'll try to visit once in a while. For now, I'm just catching up on good ramen."

Teuchi beamed at the complimented and laughed. Ayame seemed more focused on the kids.

"So you finally found someone," she said. "I wondered when it happened. You always seemed so clueless at times."

Sakura caught Yamato looking at her, then at Hinata, then back to her.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

Yamato turned to his father in a conspiratorial whisper. "If you told me Hinata was your old crush, I might have believed you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura snapped, having heard every word.

Any further discourse was halted by the arrival of their orders. As they dug in, Yamato quickly swallowed a mouthful of ramen.

"Father," he said slowly, "you might have to back me up on this, but if there's a diplomatic mission to Konoha, I would like to take up the task."

"I'll be sure to speak to your mother about that."

Chopsticks halfway to his mouth, Naruto froze, then turned around, everyone else doing the same, to see Iruka standing stock still at the sight in front of him, utterly gobsmacked. Naruto swung out of the seat and practically ran to pick his teacher up in a fierce hug.

"Naruto?" he gasped.

"Good to see you again, Iruka," Naruto said, all smiles, then he cut off and looked out into village. "Typical. It looks like our catching up will have to wait. Teuchi, can you make my order to-go? I think some unfinished business decided to show up."

 **A/N: I really wanted this done sooner, but emotional dialogue exchanges can be a pain to write at times. I think I got a smidge repetitive, which is why some of the dialogue is abridged and cut short.**

 **Anyway, according to my understanding,** _ **The Lost Tower**_ **takes place after Jiraiya's death and the fight between Sasuke and Itachi. Those of you who remember the order of events after that, you know what comes next.**

 ***Grin***

 **In other news,** _ **Naruto: Re**_ **will be getting upgraded into a full story (finally). It might be slow going at first, as my focus is shifting back to the Apocalyptian Saga. I'll see about getting the updated chapters here in the next couple of days.**


	4. Chapter 4

The plan of attack that Pain had devised was to launch the Animal Path into the bounds of the village, where it would summon the rest of them inside the protections Konoha had set up, then execute their various missions, seeking the jinchuriki for capture and disrupting their intelligence apparatus.

Achieving the first step was child's play, but they came up short after the group was summoned.

"Looking for me?" Naruto asked, practically waiting for them.

Konan and the Paths of Pain prepared to square off against the King, staring impassively as the Deva Path spoke.

"Naruto Uzumaki? You are the jinchuriki?"

"Yeah," the blond replied.

"That saves us the trouble of tearing apart the village to find you. I would ask you how this development came to pass, but that is irrelevant."

More shinobi began gathering nearby, prepared for battle. Tsunade appeared next to Naruto.

"You think you can take us all?" she challenged.

"There's no need for that," Naruto said as rolled out a scroll and activated it, a nice tea set sitting on a blanket. "Why don't we talk?"

Everyone was far too shocked to react, on either side. Naruto went ahead and settled down, gesturing Pain to a spot across from him. "Come on. There's far too few students of Jiraiya left in the world to have a proper discussion with. Can't pass up on the opportunity."

After getting over the initial shock, even if it never showed on his face, Pain complied, though he eyed the kettle suspiciously.

"I promise it isn't poisoned. Even if I thought it would do anything to you, tampering with someone's tea is just plain rude."

Everyone continued to stare, tension holding just shy of peaking. Regardless, Pain seemed entirely unconcerned by the presence of potential hostiles, sipping tea for the sake of formalities.

"So, what is it you wish to say before your demise?" Pain asked.

"Is it too much to ask for a chat with a fellow apprentice?" Naruto asked back.

"You speak so casually to me, even after all I've done."

Naruto frowned and momentarily setting his cup aside.

"I've had twenty years to come to terms with Master Jiraiya's death. I still haven't forgiven you for what you did. I might never be able to. But killing you would not do anything to serve his memory, nor would it bring the dead back to life." Naruto paused, then stared Pain in the eye. "A better question is if you have any regrets about killing your own master? Are your goals really worth it?"

"I doubt explaining would change anything."

"Well, since we're already talking, it can't be too much of an effort to explain a few things."

"I want to create peace and bring about justice."

Naruto nodded, sipping his tea. "An honorable and noble goal. It was Master Jiraiya's, as I recall. As his student, it's my dream, too. How do you plan to accomplish it?"

Tsunade had to admit that both Naruto and Pain had incredible poker-faces. Neither of them had betrayed any emotion. Strangely enough, the Akatsuki leader seemed content to lay out his plans and philosophy to an avowed enemy.

"By gathering the Tailed Beasts, forming the ultimate weapon, it will cause such devastation that the very thought of conflict will be banished. Wars would become a thing of the past."

Naruto took another sip of tea. "And then what?"

Pain narrowed his eyes.

"You speak of peace and justice, as if enough bloodshed will ultimately bring about both, unequivocally. It's a contradiction, and you are neglecting some very important facts."

"And what accounts do you think I am failing to consider?" Pain asked.

"That those hurt eventually seek vengeance. The greater the hurt, the greater the desire to seek recompense."

A sliver of emotion twinged across Pain's face. Whether of anger or confusion, Naruto couldn't rightly tell, but pressed on all the same. When Pain neglected to retort, Naruto decided to hammer the point home.

"If conflict is as prevalent to human nature as you believe, that we will never truly understand each other, you really aren't changing anything by holding the world hostage. Violence breeds violence. Subject someone to anger, and they will eventually learn to hate. Do you think building a superweapon or developing an ultimately destructive technique would truly put a stop to all of that?"

Konan stared in disbelief as Pain's ideology was verbally torn to shreds, and her friend was just sitting there, taking it all without retort.

"You speak as if you're a god, but you're still that same child living in the shadows of you own past. And despite your claims of divinity, you're not really even close; a cheap imitator. You're not even the first person I've met who thought their grief surpassed everyone else's."

"We are shaped by the trials we face, each person of each generation. Teach them conflict, and humanity will rise to the challenge. Maybe they won't immediately triumph over your ideals, but eventually, someone will do enough damage that your way of thinking will no longer be sustainable, bringing back to where you started."

"And would you propose as an alternative?"

"Someone once told me that to be a shinobi is to endure. I don't think that's exclusive to ninjas. We as humans adapt to our circumstances. I've seen it time and again, the weak becoming strong, simply because they were too stubborn to give up. I think we should still strive to understand each other, stand against the tide of fear and hatred, and reach out through the haze. No one is an island; we're all human in the end, breathing the same air and enjoying the same sun, and those are only some of the things each of us have in common."

"And what would prevent conflicts from arising to destroy this future you are envisioning? There would still be division, and thus conflict."

"I'm not naïve enough to believe all of our problems will go away overnight. Like Jiraiya said, there's just too much hate in the world, and as long as inequalities and selfishness exist, a lasting peace is impossible…but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to use what we have right now to make tomorrow a better place." Naruto smiled, looking over his shoulder at his son, then back to Pain. "But that's the kicker, isn't it? It's in future generations that we have to place our hopes, and we have to teach them as well as we can before we go. We arm them with knowledge and wisdom, and let them decide. And who knows? Maybe one day, someone down the line will find the solution."

Standing up, Naruto dusted himself off and offered a hand to Pain.

"So, Nagato, instead of fighting each other, do you want to help me achieve Master Jiraiya's dream?"

[TSR]

Tsunade was well on her way to getting drunk, and no one in the room could really blame her for it. Even Shizune had only lightly chided her, more to hold off until later to get truly plastered.

It was all Naruto's fault. The knucklehead had proven as unpredictable as always, but in this case, he had managed to pull an impossible victory, all without throwing a single punch.

On one hand, he negotiated what could amount to peace talks with a criminal organization previously set on capturing him. On the other, they now had to deal with very much alive members of said criminal organization and the headache of convincing the other nations that their intentions were genuine.

Then again, they were also the official leaders of a Shinobi Village with established connections. Even in times of war, there were protocols for that sort of thing. If Pain, or rather Nagato Uzumaki was true to his word, it could still work out.

"We're still going to have to sort out what to do with the Akatsuki," Tsunade said. "Regardless of your reasoning and reparations, you're still guilty of harboring S-Ranked renegades and attacks on shinobi of pretty much every major village."

"Considering that the worst of the lot is gone, it should be a bit easier to work out. Konan and I are negotiating for a stand down. Orochimaru's gone, along with Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, and Kakuzu. Kisame is still pretty infamous, so he could prove to be a challenge."

"We can see if the new regime in Kiri can figure something out," Naruto suggested. "Aside from him, I think that's all the known Akatsuki members accounted for."

"Tobi," Konan said.

"Who's that?"

"He calls himself Madara, and he was one of our original cohorts when the Akatsuki took on our…more recent mission," Konan explained. "He and Zetsu came into the cause together. If any are to be disposed of without question, it would be them."

Naruto seemed considerate of the proposition. "If we can manage to get the other nations to come around to the idea, we might be able to coordinate a hunt for them. Might even be able to spin it in such a fashion that gets you off the chopping block."

Tsunade groaned internally as she sank into the back of her chair. "You mean you want me to call for a summit between the Kage?" she asked.

"That might not be entirely necessary," Shizune said, presenting a missive for the Hokage. "I think the Raikage beat you to the punch."

Tsunade really wished she was plastered already.

 **A/N: So that took longer than I originally expected.**

 **The results of this chapter was something I decided shortly after I hammered out Naruto's characterization. Specifically, I was having him emulate and channel Uncle Iroh, working through people's problems with tea and polite discussion.**

 **If the lack of fighting and brutal administration of justice against a worthy foe left you wanting, you'll get your chance in the next chapter. Going to fast forward a little to get to it, so you'll miss out on everyone freaking out at members of the vestigial Akatsuki appearing at the Summit.**

 **Feel free to leave a review or PM, even if it's only to chide me for my lapse in updating.**

 **UPDATE (3/13/19): I fixed a gap that I had unintentionally left in the narrative. It has since been fixed.**


	5. Chapter 5

Things were going well for Sasuke Uchiha. One of the conspirators of the Uchiha Massacre was dead, and he knew who else was involved. Sure, the Sandiame was out of his reach, but if he heard right, the man was suffering for eternity. If he ever got bored, he could find a way to bring him back and torture him some more, but that was for another time.

For now, he had to deal with an annoying harpy.

He was about to skewer her when a rush of wind blew him off of his feet and spirit the annoying pinky out of his reach. It wasn't much trouble righting himself, but the sheer amount of air displacement was staggering.

Looking up, he saw Sakura in Naruto's arms, setting her on her own feet.

"You okay, Sakura?" he asked.

She wordlessly nodded, strangely surprised about something. Naruto chuckled and turned to face the Uchiha.

"Right, now then. It's been a long time, Sasuke."

"What are you going on about? It's hardly been a month."

Naruto smiled, as if amused with some secret joke. "Let me tell you, Sasuke, I have had one incredible journey to get to this point. I was almost worried I wouldn't recognize how much things have changed. But, seeing you here shows me that some things can't change, not even after twenty years."

The Uchiha took an involuntarily step back. The smile that Naruto was sporting was rapidly turning hollow and killing intent began to radiate off of him in a haze, water rippling out from his feet and cresting as the wind whipped around them.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded

"I am Naruto Uzumaki." A puff of smoke signaled the dismissal of a disguise, Naruto's teenage visage was replace by that of a fully grown man. "King of Rōran, husband to a beautiful queen, father of five incredible children, former shinobi of Konoha, and the man who will make you realize the folly of your actions."

Sasuke couldn't contain his laughter. "So you abandoned that treacherous pit, too? Never thought you'd be one to turn traitor. That's fine. You can wait until later after I've reduced it to a pit of ashes. Not even-"

"Now hold up there," Naruto interrupted. "I think you missed what I said. I said I'm going to show you the folly of your actions. Starting now. I have a promise to keep, you see."

A spiral formed next to Sasuke, depositing Tobi next to him.

"I can't allow you to do that," Tobi said, gripping the young Uchiha's shoulder.

His eye flashed, preparing to spirit himself Sasuke away, when the spiral snapped shut, refusing to reopen. A Rasengan flew out, separating the two Uchiha.

"Now where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked, head tilting slightly to the side.

"What?" Tobi gasped.

"It's amazing what can be accomplished with some crazy chakra reserves and the necessary means to channel it properly. And I had plenty of time to make it work."

Everyone looked down, a wide network of sealing arrays spreading out from Naruto's feet, glowing along the water's surface

"Anyone within this field outside of myself is effectively paralyzed." Naruto chuckled humorlessly. "So, Tobi, you got something you want to share with the class? No, it's not Tobi, you're calling yourself Madara, but that's not your name either. You're an Uchiha, so I imagine a bunch of you idolize him."

Sasuke could hear Madara's teeth grind next to him.

"I heard that someone was going about by that name, so I did some digging. Literally. Had his corpse burned, too; better to not have that sort of thing lying around." Naruto chuckled. "So, Not-Madara, what is your real name, or did you discard it with all your wits?"

The Tobi's mask exploded, followed by his legs, dropping him into the shallows. Naruto had yet to move an inch towards the two renegades.

"I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?"

The face looking up was scarred, but obviously an Uchiha. He looked up, angry, then disappeared into a swirl. Watching Not-Madara vanish into thin air, Naruto gave an unconcerned shrug.

"Eh, I'm sure Nagato and Konan have a good plan to deal with him."

[TSR]

 _Meanwhile, in Amegakure…_

Obito Uchiha was beyond furious as he returned to base. It had taken far too much chakra to break out of that sealing array that the Jinchuriki had casually thrown down. He had been forced to replace both of his legs and his arm was still in the process of healing after being shattered by that Rasengan.

Nothing had gone as expected, and he needed to get his thoughts in order and the damage to his body repaired while Nagato was still off wrecking Konoha and chasing down the survivors.

While he was certain the brat could be captured, he needed to completely revise the strategy, and send someone to track down the Eight-Tails in the meantime. Losing Sasuke was a setback, but the boy was always meant to be an expendable weapon he would send after Konoha. Well, he had plenty of other patsies to work with. Once he Zetsu reported back on Rōran, he could solidify a course of action.

"Tobi," Pain said, an edge of anger etching his voice.

Obito slowly turned to his "leader". Nagato didn't get angry, not like this. That his normally lifeless tone was showing anger at all was concerning. The Deva Path raised a hand.

 _Oh, sh-!_

"Shinra Tensei!"

When Obito had woken up this morning, getting blasted out the top of Pain's tower via Shinra Tensei had not been in the plan. Racing face-first into a muddy lake, he realized he might have made a few miscalculations, something he began to reevaluate as he settled onto the surface, coughing out a mouthful of water.

His erstwhile comrades were not inclined to give him the opportunity. Looking up, he could see Konan smirking savagely. All six Paths were present, surrounding his position. Realizing he had been dropped into a prepared kill-zone, Obito was certain that the next several minutes were going to suck.

For whatever reason, Nagato had decided to betray him, laying patiently in wait for him to return. And since Pain was the face of the Akatsuki, the other members that were alive, few as they were, would not interfere in the fight.

Before he could really think about talking the Rinnegan bearer down or retreating, Konan opened with a barrage of exploding tags.

[TSR]

"Anyway, on to business," Naruto said. Clearing his throat, he slipped into official tones. "Sasuke Uchiha, you have committed crimes against the state and have conspired with terrorist cells for the destabilization of every established nation. What say you in your defense?"

"There's no law that has any right to judge me," Sasuke snarled. "Least of all you."

Naruto sighed. "Guilty it is, then. On behalf of Konoha, I'm here to deliver the judgment decided."

Sasuke growled, his Sharingan whirling. His hands were still free, so he could still defend himself.

That notion died when Naruto waved his hand back, something like mini-Rasengans on each fingertip. A blast of wind swept out, slamming the Uchiha off his feet. Realizing his feet weren't being anchored to the surface, Sasuke grinned savagely. His satisfaction was cut short.

A flash of yellow deposited Naruto in front of him, his palm in mid-swing into the Uchiha's stomach, lines of script traveling outward from the point of contact. Once again paralyzed, the sealing script wrapped around Sasuke, forcing him to his knees.

Glaring impotently at Naruto, Sasuke tried setting him on fire with Ameratsu, but the infernal blond teleported out of view, then grabbed Sasuke by the back of his head, shoving it forward while his collar was pulled down.

There was a brief pause, then a satisfied snort.

"I see someone had the courtesy to remove the Cursed Seal for me," Naruto said. "Good. I can move to the next order of business."

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a touch of fear begin to sink in. Whether it was Naruto or not, this man was not going to pull punches.

"I won't kill you, Sasuke." There was pity in his voice, but no regret. "But I'll do the next best thing. I have a promise to keep, after all."

Sakura gasped, but couldn't bring herself to move or speak under the killing intent Naruto was projecting.

The king stood back up and jerked back Sasuke's head, eyes turned skyward to see Naruto's hand lower to his face. Righteous fury was quickly being eroded away by primal terror, which only redoubled when Sasuke realized his Sharingan wasn't working anymore, his eyesight failing him, and Naruto's hand continued its steady, agonizingly slow descent to his face.

Blue eyes were deathly cold as Naruto rested his thumb on the young man's forehead…

And then all Sasuke Uchiha knew was pain.

[TSR]

Sakura was still in shock when the deed was finally done. Naruto was carrying an unconscious Sasuke over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Kakashi rushed forward to reach his students, but shocked like he had seen a ghost.

"He's breathing. Kakashi," Naruto announced. "No need to worry."

It was all Sakura could do not to break down and cry, right then and there. Naruto touched her shoulder in passing.

"It's over. We're all going home."

 **A/N: Not going to lie, I really got into that sequence between Naruto and Sasuke, especially towards the end, and a major source of inspiration and influence on that scene was Amon from Legend of Korra.**

 **Yes, Naruto is generally a nice guy and would like nothing more than to talk over tea, but he is also aware that the world isn't as nice a place as he would like it to be. And he is well aware that Sasuke is pretty much beyond reason, and experience has taught him that the only way to convince him of anything would be through overwhelming force. And the only way to get him off the chopping block is to defang him in such a manner that he can't possibly become a threat ever again. More on that in the next chapter.**

 **I plan on putting up one more chapter, which will effectively wrap the project up for the immediate future.**

 **In other news, I found an error in the previous chapter which has been since resolved. Mostly some unpatched dialogue that was missed in the original editing process. Leave a review or PM if you find anything else amiss.**


	6. Chapter 6 - FINALE

Chapter Six:

Sasuke had seen this scene play out a million times. Between Tsukiyomi, his nightmares, and countless fantasies he had played in his head, he had committed every detail of that night to memory, channeling his sorrow to rage, a drive to surpass his brother.

This time, he saw someone new in the otherwise familiar scene. Not Madara, but Naruto, grown up and matured, blue eyes standing out in the monochromatic scene. He looked on, pity in his eyes as the illusional version of Itachi stared Sasuke down, mouth moving, but words going unheard.

The Tsukiyomi never came like it did that night, the vision ending at that moment, Itachi walking away and fading into nothingness.

[TSR]

Returning to the world of the living, Sasuke immediately knew something was wrong.

Chained to a medical bed, his first thought was that Karin had managed to drug him, but the room didn't look like any of the facilities that belonged to Orochimaru, or even anything she would chose. Too much natural light for starters. Secondly, the equipment was far more mundane and mild compared to what the Snake typically kept in stock.

He tugged at the chains, but they refused to budge. His first thought was that they were special cuffs designed to weaken and restrain a powerful shinobi like himself, but there was no fancy script to indicate seals and the design was rather simple, fit for restraining an uppity civilian rather than a shinobi.

Dread pooled into the pit of Sasuke's stomach. His vision was restored, even if everything around him had the quality of being flat and empty, devoid of life and color, but his Sharingan wouldn't work, and he couldn't so much as make his fingertips spark. Any attempt at manipulating his chakra came to nothing.

He momentarily wondered if it was a genjutsu, but that didn't seem right. A proper illusion would be designed to fool the victim, especially for someone as dangerous as him. His eyes were still working, but his senses were blunted; hearing, sight, touch, every last one weakened to what an utterly normal civilian would be capable.

Just as he was about to panic, he noticed that he wasn't alone in the room.

The older Naruto was sitting on a chair, watching him closely, a hint of parental disappointment in his eyes as he watched for any sign of trouble.

"What are you looking at, Naruto? Why are you here? And why are you old?"

Naruto snorted. "Just wondering how you were doing. As for the rest of that, suffice to say that it's rather complicated, and above your clearance. You're a prisoner, you see."

Sasuke sneered, but Naruto didn't pay it any heed.

"That was the first time I tried that technique in combat, by the way. I wasn't sure it wouldn't kill you or leave you a drooling vegetable." He paused, letting the words sink in. "I'll start off by saying I don't really enjoy this, but here's what's been done to you: your chakra network has been sealed. Legally and nearly physically, you are no longer a ninja."

The pronouncement hung in the air, and when Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto continued.

"Itachi's dead, Sasuke, as is Danzo. The Sandiame died years ago, and the other elders will be tried soon enough. And now that Not-Madara is down for the count, anyone who had a part to play in the Uchiha Massacre is dead or out of your reach. Congratulations, Sasuke. By all rationality, your quest for vengeance is complete."

"Danzo admitted Konoha's culpability!" Sasuke snapped. "Don't tell me they didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Konoha's-? Culpability in what?"

"Profiting off of the Uchiha clan's deaths."

"From what I heard, the Uchiha weren't blameless. Your family was going to attempt a coup. And it wasn't anyone outside of Itachi, the Sandiame, and the elders who actually knew anything, and Itachi only volunteered to be the scapegoat after Danzo screwed things up."

"It doesn't matter!" Sasuke snapped. "I will avenge my family!"

"And you're going to exact your vengeance on…who exactly? All Konoha shinobi? Every person of the village? Tear up ever last Hidden Village until they cry to the heavens that the Uchiha didn't deserve their fate?"

"If I have to."

Naruto sighed and leaned back into his chair. "Considering Lee has more chakra capacity than you do, I don't see that happening, and you're not helping your case."

Sufficiently cowed, Sasuke could only pout as Naruto sighed, long-sufferingly.

"What do you want, Sasuke? Did you really want to destroy everything, or did you not know what else to do until someone gave you a purpose? At what point will your quest of revenge complete?"

"Don't try to be high and mighty with me. You-"

"Do you want to die?"

The Uchiha froze.

"Survivor's Guilt. Saw a bit of it after Rōran fell. I'm sure you can bring it up to a shrink to explain it to you. I can't say to stop feeling that way; that would be unreasonable and probably impossible at this point. I can say you aren't alone in those thoughts, and they do not make you special by any means. So, while you're serving your punishment, perhaps you can finally come to terms with your past, and maybe – just maybe – you'll be able to move on someday."

Closing the door behind him, Naruto looked at Kakashi, who had posted himself outside of Sasuke's room. The jonin was without his book, surprisingly enough, and wordlessly fell in behind Naruto, following him to where Tsunade, Shikaku, Nagato, and Konan were waiting. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, they got straight to business.

"What became of Tobi?" Tsunade asked. "The other Kage are going to want to know, and I'd like to have that matter wrapped up and neatly packaged."

"I decided to let Nagato handle that one, the only stipulation being that we would be able to identify and interrogate him afterwards him after he was finished. Thanks, by the way."

Nagato inclined his head.

"So, in short, he's still alive, incapacitated. We can figure out how to deal with him later, preferably once we've made sure the threat is gone."

"Obito," Kakashi said, drawing all eyes to him.

Shikaku spoke first. "What?"

"His name was Obito Uchiha. He was my former teammate."

Everyone digested the new information, each reacting differently to this revelation. Tsunade and Shikaku were shocked, piecing together the ramifications. Nagato and Konan were indifferent, but otherwise satisfied with their efforts. Naruto...

"There was no way you could have known," Naruto said sadly.

Kakashi hummed non-committedly, not reacting as one of Naruto's clones appeared next to him, depositing an item in the King's hands, and then dissipating as soon as the task was completed.

"On the brighter side of things, I just received some interesting news," he continued. "It appears that the last active Akatsuki member ran afoul of some of Rōran's defenses."

He tossed the bauble to Nagato, who inspected it closely. "This is Zetsu's ring," the ex-leader of the Akatsuki said. Taking a deep breath, he clenched his hand over it. "How certain are you?"

"Considering all that was left was some pulped wood, black, misty wisps, and the screams Rika mentioned, he's either a good actor or he's gone."

"Hm." Nagato considered something for a moment. "Black Zetsu is dead, but someone may be able to make use of the White Zetsu if someone managed to replicate it.

Shikaku nodded. "We'll be keeping an eye out in case someone tries to start somewhere else. If any future talks progress smoothly, we can get the other villages to aid in the search."

Naruto inclined his head. "Sounds perfectly reasonable."

[TSR]

Naruto and Sāra entered the conference room, where the dignitaries of the Five Great Villages several of the smaller villages were gathered. After the showdown at the Five Kage Summit, things were still a little tense, but with the news of the Akatsuki's defeat, there were many hopeful expressions scattered around the room. Some of the delegates were amicably chatting with each other, especially since their homes weren't about to become a battleground for the umpteenth time.

The Fourth Shinobi War – a name that would soon be changed – had ended with scarcely any violence. The ringleaders were dead, detained, or were sitting in the room to discuss the near-miss they had with war.

The royal pair made their way to where Nagato and Konan were standing.

"You're looking better," Naruto said.

"I've had some help."

"This is my wife, Queen Sāra Uzumaki."

Both Nagato and Konan blinked, glancing at each other as Naruto explained. "She decided to make that the official family name."

Nagato blinked. "I'm…not sure how to respond to that."

"You've got time to figure that out. Besides, I'm sure there'll be an Uzumaki Family Reunion soon enough."

The Amegakure leader fondly smirked ever so slightly at the thought, or perhaps a memory. Either way, it was more emotion than Nagato was probably used to expressing, and it stood out on his face.

"Ready to change the world?" Sāra asked.

"It won't be easy," Konan replied.

Naruto shrugged. "It never is, but when has that ever stopped me?"

Mifune cleared his throat, loud enough to catch everyone's attention. "I now call this meeting to order."

Yes, it would be a challenge, but anything meaningful usually was.

 **A/N:** **Okay, that's a wrap for the foreseeable future. There may be more material in the future, but I think it's sufficiently closed for the time being.**

 **Because of the divergent nature of the plot, I could have taken this way further, but I wanted to keep this as short as possible (with a production spanning about a year (for only ~10,000 words), I was kind of pushing it as it was). As it is, my main Naruto project is massive and will be inordinately time-consuming (but it's also further along).**

 **Still, in the process of coming up with stuff for this story, I had some ideas come and go. For the curious, here are some scenes/sequences I considered:**

 **Sasuke's redemption: not sure how this would have happened, but since he had yet to go as far as he did at the end of the series, he was still (sort of) salvageable. This would have been easier to highlight if the war had gone on like in canon, but that never happened. I guess he'll have to prove himself some other way, and his punishment will stand.**

 **More of the Rōran royal family: I didn't really get to expand on the personalities of Naruto and Sāra's children, or even Sāra's character development since the movie, but that was dropped when it began to drag out the plot. I may do some short works on the less explored members at a later date to flesh out their character and attributes, Rika and Yamato in particular.**

 **Both of them would have seen combat action.**

 **The Fourth Shinobi War: Since Kabuto is still alive at this point, he could still prove to be a substantial adversary, teaming up with other rogue elements in what may or may not be a curb-stomp war. If the story is to continue forward, that would be the main event.**

 **Naruto's life in Rōran: there is quite a bit I could have done with this, exploring more of Naruto and Sāra's relationship and how the people of Rōran became a band of nomads, but it would have distracted from the reunion tour and was left on the cutting floor as a result. I may pick it back up at a later date.**

 **Takeshi would have bonded with Konohamaru, much like how Konohamaru originally did with Naruto.**

 **I briefly considered Prince Yamato tagging along with Team Seven in his father's absence, going on adventures. But like the flashback sequences, it proved a bit excessive and began to overtake the development of the rest of the story, and was ultimately left in the deck until I can make it work.**

 **And with that, TTFN!**


End file.
